Wrong Amount for Medical Collection

[Anonymous]

I recently received a letter from a collection agency wherein it stated that my balance owed is $270.  I contacted my insurance company and the faxed me an explanation of benefits showing they paid the OC all but $50.  I contacted the OC and they agreed with what the insurance company sent me.  I asked if I could make my payment to them but they stated that they no longer had access to my account but yet they were able to pull my information and discuss my account.  I want to pay the collection now because it is not on my credit report but I do not want to overpay.  I am afraid that if I send in just the $50 to the CA they will report the remaining balance on my credit report.  I thought about just sending a money order to the OC to the address that my insurance used for their payment.  What should I do?

[fused]

Hi and Welcome to the forums! It sounds as though the CA has charged some interest on the debt owed. Before I can help you, please tell us when the date of service was for this bad debt. Was it for a hospital or doctor bill?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for responding.  This is for an er bill from April 2006.  The SOL for my state is 3 years for written contracts.  I called the OC today and they again verified that the amount owed to them was $50.  I asked the csr to mail me something so that when I send in the payment the CA understands why.  She stated that she would put in a "request" to have it mailed to me. 

The EOB from my insurance matches the original amount of the bill.  When I contacted the CA the collector stated that they do not charge interest on medical bills and that was the exact amount they were sent from the OC. 

As you see I am getting the runaround here.  No matter who I speak with, the OC or CA, neither can call the other and verify the amount.  The OC stated that it was against their policy for any contact with the CA after a debt is transferred.  

What should I do?  

[Anonymous]

We had a similar situation a few months ago. In our case, in calling the OC we were told a balance of $34, but the CA (in the dunning letter) said $152.

After much going 'round and 'round, we discovered that it was for three different visits and was under the same "account number" for the CA, but not for the OC (who only accessed the ONE bill in their system). So while the OC was looking at Bill A and said $34, the CA was looking at Bill A, Bill B, and Bill C and said $152 (for the total of all three).

Is that possibly your case as well?

[Anonymous]

I seriously doubt that it is for more than one account because of the following information on my EOB:

Date of Service:  4/29/06

Charge $322.00

Not covered amount $64.40. This amount is not allowed based on the insurance companies network contracted amount

Payment $206.08

Date processed  07/12/06

Paid to provider

Patient Responsibility  $51.52

Letter from CA:

Date of Service 04/29/2006

Original amount $322.00

Amount Paid  $64.40

Amount Due  $257.60

It looks as if they are saying that the ins.comp. only paid $64.40-eob clearly states that they DID NOT pay that amount. 

[Anonymous]

I checked my mail today and I got a letter from CA stating that they have reported the balance of $257 to the credit bureaus.  That is the one thing that I did not want to happen!  I have not received notification from my credit monitoring service that a new collection has been added.  I guess I'll have to go through the HIPAA process once this hits my credit report.  My hands seem to be tied.

I remember speaking with one of the csr back on November 18 when I was first told about the debt and he basically gave me the medical reason for me being at the er on the date in question.  I was actually shocked that he could tell me the diagnosis from the visit.  

Thanks for everyone's help with the matter.  

[fused]

Please post in this thread if the collection hits your reports.

[Anonymous]

This account has not hit my credit reports according to my most recent alerts from the credit bureaus.  I wanted to know what you guys thought about sending in a copy of the explanation of benefits from the ins. company along with a money order for the amount that is actually owed, not the amount on the invoice from the CA.  I already have a lot of medical bills to work on getting deleted.  I want to try and keep this one from hitting my cr. 

Any advice???